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There’s no mocking Tiger’s game or his Masters chances

Tiger Woods gets a ball from his caddie on the driving range at the Masters golf tournament Tuesday. [MATT SLOCUM/ASSOCIATED PRESS]

By Kirk Bohls kbohls@statesman.com

Posted: Apr. 11, 2019 12:12 pm Updated: Apr. 11, 2019 12:14 pm

The word is out.

Tiger Woods will rock the mock this week. He’ll don the throw-back mock turtleneck that he used to wear during his prime for his opening round of the Masters.

He’s gone old school with his wardrobe and hopes his game returns to the previous world-class form as well that has earned him four Masters titles, 14 majors and 80 PGA Tour wins.

We’ve seen flashes of it in his return to golf after more issues with his back and neck and putting. He’s not the same golfer he was, of course. The hairline is in full retreat. The hair itself, spotty as it is, seems to have its own bunkers. But the smile’s still there. So is the desire. And his following.

“I thought it was a pretty neat look back in the day,” Woods said with that mega-smile Tuesday. “I was probably in a little better shape back in those days, but I had won events wearing the mock. I’ve always enjoyed wearing them, and you’ll see it on Thursday.”

So can magic happen again? Can Tiger at age 43 channel that once-dominant short game at a place with lightning-fast greens where he says golfers can tell the difference between “birdie roars and eagle roars?” What kind of buzz would that create at Augusta National if he were to be in the lead on the back nine on Sunday?

So much is made of every Tiger twitch, every Tiger fist pump and every Tiger three-putt that some veteran Masters observers think the media and fans should catch their collective breath.

“Sometimes it’s hard to get a feel for where he is with his game in the days leading up to the tournament,” CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz told me Tuesday. “The over-the-top reporting of his practice rounds always makes it sound like he is doing things that no one else is capable of doing. Last year there was all the talk about how many eagles he made on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Then the tournament started, and he was not close to being a factor.”

Woods didn’t break par until he scored 69 on Sunday to finish in a tie for 32nd. It was his second worst standing ever in 21 Masters starts, better than only a 40th-place tie in 2012.

That said, it’s impossible not to overreact since the greatest golfer in history not named Jack Nicklaus is back on the PGA Tour and healthy once again.

“I feel I can win,” Tiger said. “I’ve proven that I can do it, and I put myself there with a chance to win the last two major championships of the year last year.”

He came close at The Open last summer, finishing in a tie for sixth. He made a charge in the PGA to ignite the galleries but was rebuffed by Brooks Koepka and was a runner-up. Then he won the TOUR Championship, his first victory in five years.

He’s ranked 12th in the world, but time is ranked first.

He can’t practice as frequently. The back won’t allow it. He no longer has the length off the tees that once tempted the Augusta folks to try to Tiger-proof the course. His driver has tended to desert him at times same as his putting, which was once automatic.

But Tiger can’t help but dream of what was and what might be in the future. Especially at a place that is so sacred Rory McIlroy described it as “like walking into an empty church.”

The pews will be filled, come Thursday, and the thousands who enter these grounds will all but worship his game.

So can Tiger win a fifth green jacket this week? And if so, is it possible he could win five more majors and pass Nicklaus with 19 major championships and lay claim as the best of all time?

“I think greatness is still in him,” said three-time Masters winner Phil Mickelson, “and I never rule it out.”

Neither does Nantz, who follows his game intently and has seen him miss plenty of short putts, none more excruciating than the 4-footer against Lucas Bjerregaard in the quarterfinals of the World Golf Championship-Dell Technologies Match Play two weeks ago. After he missed, he set it up again and missed again.

“I learned long ago to never underestimate Tiger and what he is capable of pulling off,” Nantz said. “His win last year at the Tour Championship was tremendous. Maybe his game returns to that level this week. It would be an amazing story to document.”